WHAT WE DO

Political Campaigns, Community Outreach, Grass Tops, and Land-Use

Whether we handle projects exclusively or share strategy development as part of a team, it's our grassroots field operations, turnout programs, ground-based Vote-By-Mail programs, and coalition building that are renowned for giving candidates and our clients the winning edge.

Burnside & Associates has the expertise, political know-how and professional relationships to take our clients from the locker room to the finish line.

We pride ourselves as being the first-ever national field consulting firm as well as our ability to be "one-stop-shopping," covering all aspects of a campaign's needs. On large-scale races we regularly work as part of a team, sharing close discussion and coordination with other strategists and firms.

We believe in a comprehensive approach to communicating with our target audience. On a strategic timeline, we layer our message into a complementary combination of direct mail, phone calls, personal contact, mass media, and social media. We take on corollary activities such as voter registration drives, initiative petition circulation and absentee ballot efforts and integrate them into the campaign strategy. Every program we write for our clients is exclusive, taking into consideration the uniqueness of context and local community issues.

Our community outreach services include coalition and consensus-building, community education and engagement, community mobilization and empowerment, and grassroots organizing and management. Building broad-based community coalitions and new alliances is manageable when you have Burnside & Associates to help you create relationships with community leaders and community-based organizations.

When we take on a project, we don't look for a winning margin. We create it. Time and time again, we've broken records with our ability to train voters to vote early and vote by mail. Our creative and innovative early and absentee voter programs have repeatedly produced come-from-behind wins for our clients- many times by less than one percent!

Our models keep track of where a voter is in the process every day, and treat them accordingly. While some of our voters are meeting organizers at their front door, others are receiving reminder calls asking them to turn in their ballots. Still others are opening mail pieces from local elected officials reminding them of the importance of securing their vote early. We base our success on our innovative and creative targeting selections and a meticulous care for detail.

Information/Data Systems Management

Since its founding, Burnside & Associates has stayed ahead of the curve by using technology to create sharp, moving strategies that can change direction with a moment's notice. Unlike other firms, we can handle every aspect of a campaign's information systems needs-keeping campaign overhead down and productivity up. By managing information in-house, we can rapidly respond to any unforeseen variables the campaign may encounter. In a matter of minutes, we can select and move information from headquarters to a print shop, or we can select in excess of a million calls and begin executing them immediately.

Direct Mail

We expanded our business to handle the creative needs of our clients in 1998. Since then, we have crafted innovative mail communications to effectively showcase our campaigns' commitments and accomplishments. Recognizing the apathy and opposition of many voters, we believe that mail must be targeted strategically and packaged creatively in order to have a full impact. We know it is imperative that a mail program integrate with the field, polling and other arms of the campaign. When we handle it all, our clients have an 80% win-rate.

Social Media

All elements of the field and mail program should be integrated into social media. We believe and understand social networking and creating third party credibility is important. We utilize a thorough knowledge of social media in order to establish a volunteer and community outreach program that maximizes supporters through Websites, Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail programs.

Find out more about Burnside & Associate's capacity by contacting us to schedule a briefing.